


Santa Monica Dream

by wintersfirstfire



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Friendship, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 13:21:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19791721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wintersfirstfire/pseuds/wintersfirstfire
Summary: Will really wished moving away was easy to process.





	Santa Monica Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Thought the song Santa Monica Dream fit in well with the ending.

Will wished he was happy to be leaving Hawkins.

To be leaving the place that trapped him in a world as unwelcoming as the upside down.

But he wasn’t.

Instead, as he stared into the side mirror of his mothers car, he noticed the printed letters at the bottom of it:

 _objects may appear closer than they_ _are_.

And, by god, he wished that was true.

His vision adjusted back to the reflected landscape of the ever-shrinking town, old forest slowly engulfing its minute frame. He clung to the image of it, blinked multiple times, and stared more just to be sure it stuck.

Will wanted to be so happy. He tried to remember the bad, something to help grasp at the concept of moving away, though each bad was connected to a good.

Every path found it’s way to his friends.

_The cracked and old roads of the neighbourhood streets - he remembered falling off his bike at ten, scraping a decent portion of skin from his knee._

_It stung, and the pain made him wince. Yet the memory continued, and there rode in Mike, who hoisted him up, and walked the two to his house._

_They watched movies and ate snacks after cleaning up._

Will felt a small smile and a twinge in the heart at the memory. And as the town grew smaller, the same situation proceeded within the boys mind:

_He thought of how the video rental place didn’t stock new movies until months later - the sheer excitement of watching Star Wars depleting upon entry. But he also remembered Dustin, with a spare copy. And the night spent at his place with all four of them._

_He remembered the playground, the kids being unkind to him, forcing him out. But there was Lucas, already planning what to do._

_He remembeerd their terrible jokes._

_Their late night dungeons and dragons sessions._

_Their movie marathons._

_And he remembered their last hug; their sad eyes, and reluctant goodbyes_.

Every aspect of this town - his home - combined, and Will found something warm running down his cheeks as the last building of Hawkins disappeared from the mirror.

Will wished he could hate the run-down place - the cracked roads and outdated shops. The ghosts of memories - two friends running down a field. But he couldn’t.

Because attached to the most unfortunate places were those friends, those people worth remembering.

Attached to Hawkins, was Will.


End file.
